Thursday 27 March 2008

Who ate all the Mini-Eggs?.............




Good afternoon everybody and I hope a good Easter was had by all. Vast amounts of chocolate have been consumed in this household, purely for medicinal purposes you understand! Kit and I have been suffering from the dreaded lurgy this holiday which just seems to be leaving us now. It has not however stopped us from enjoying the few days off.


We ventured out on Saturday to give our new ebay bargain (99p!!) it's first outing. Don't you love it, it smells a bit suspicious but once you get over that it's fab! We stuffed the box with ham and egg (adds to the aroma beautifully!) sandwiches and chocolate cake, filled the flasks with hot coffee and went off to Minster Lovell for a picnic. We hadn't banked on how cold it was so we managed to sit in the car and eat our goodies before dragging the children down to the ruined hall in the bitingly cold wind only to immediately turn round and head back to the car for more cake!




Easter Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast after our garden egg hunt. We lit the fire and treated ourselves to croissants in front of it. Before you picture the idyllic family scene let me tell you it involved one very sulky 7 year old who was having a terrible time trying to stand his Easter chicken up for the photo shoot, whilst his father tried to hide himself behind the crossword! Never mind, I enjoyed my breakfast at least!




We had a lovely Easter lunch with friends, followed by another egg hunt and a very lazy and relaxing afternoon doing absolutely nothing, something I excel at!


Finally, today everybody is back at school / pre-school so I have the house to myself. It's tidy and there's nothing I need to do for the day so I'm catching up.


The garden is starting to spring into life. At last my camellia has flowered. Each year we get loads of buds which then seem to shrivel up and fall off before blossoming, however this year having moved it to a more sheltered position we've been rewarded with theses lovelies......







Tonight it's book group night. Last year six of us, three of whom I'd never met before, decided to start a small group. It's been a great success, it's made me read books I'd never would have chosen and although I haven't enjoyed all of them it's been great to discuss them with the others. I didn't want to be part of a high brow, literary group, I think there's too much intellectual snobbery about literature when really reading should be about pleasure. I did however want to challenge my brain slightly and I can confirm it still works! It's a very diverse group, so we each bring something different to the discussion including a lot of laughter about life in general. Tonight we're going out to eat to celebrate a 40th birthday so after a couple of bottles of wine there may not be much book dissection!


Have a lovely weekend everyone!

20 comments:

Kathy said...

Hi Julia, Gorgeous photos! I love your Easter tree. What a lovely Easter you had, made me chuckle about the family life - sounds like my lot - sounds good when typed but the reality is so, so different! Was the picnic set really 99p via Ebay? Wow, bargain!! I am going to take a peak now to see if I can spot a bargain too. Best wishes, kathy PS. Has Easter finished yet...I'm still eating chocolate?!

Ragged Roses said...

Lovely photos Julia! Great picnic set too, what a bargain. Enjoy your reading group, drink plenty of wine and forget about the books. And in answer to the question "Who ate all the mini eggs?" It was ME
Kimx

Emma Herian said...

I wish it was me that ate all those eggs, unfortunately I am too stuffed with toblerone!
I would like to join a book group but find it really hard to discuss something mildly interlectual (have difficulty spelling it too!)- I imajine that I would end up joining a group who would only read heavy duty stuff, Iam more of a travel book reader, or books those let me escape to the past!
Anyway, less of my dribble - go and enjoy yourself over those bottles of wine, oh and discuss!

gayle said...

I love the idea of the reading group. Your photos are so lovely. I was wondering if you would like to contribute to my 'feature' re cheating at motherhood. What ideas take little time but give great value to the children (ie gives you time to do what you want to do!).

Gill said...

What a bargain the picnic set was, hope you managed to squeeze enough sandwiches in! I like the description of the serene family breakfast, every picture tells a story doesn't it.
I like the idea of forming a reading group but can't bear high-brow books or anything too intellectual, just books that are enjoyable and make me think. Maybe I'll suggest the idea to a few friends.

Tara said...

Hi Julia

Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a sweet comment--just wondering what book your club is reading...I am in one too and we are always looking for a good discussion book!

Lovely blog, I'll be back!
:0)Tara

Rubyred said...

Hi Julia,love your photos.I can't believe you were at Minster Lovell,it's only 5 mins away from me(by car) but isn't it lovely!We often have picnics there in the summer.I love the old hall!We could walk there from Witney,along the river,although we havent attempted it yet!Hope your book club meeting went well!
Rachel x

Deb said...

Hi Julia
Such lovely photos. I like the idea of a book club too. What are you reading at the moment?
Have a great weekend.

JuicyFig said...

sounds like you hade a wonderful Easter! It is a pitty they don't make picnic sets that warm you up as well.
I did the book group thing for a while, but I can't read fast enough!

Kath aRe

Asti said...

Fantastic picnic set - what a great bargain you lucky thing!

prettyshabby said...

Hi Julia,
I love your bargain vintage picnic set but I ADORE that pea green planter box!

Suzie Sews At DOTTY RED said...

Beautiful post Julia, love the pic nic hamper...how do you do it your really are the queen of the bargin finds...Hope you are all feeling well now. Oh and it was me who ate all the eggs...all the weight I lost at lent is back on and due to lack of exercise I bet some more has creeped on to!!!

Anonymous said...

Great picnic set and the easter buckets look gorgeous!

Simone said...

I ate all the mini-eggs! I bought a family sized pack of mini-eggs to decorate cakes with but they didn't get that far! I love the picnic hamper. Food always tastes better outdoors even when it is 'bitingly' cold. It does help if the food is hot though. :-)

Sal said...

Fab picnic set! Your pictures are really lovely too. We're still eating mini eggs! Sal;-)

Carol said...

Hello Julia I hope that you enjoyed Bookclub! cheers I say..
It does sound as though you had a lovely time. Spring is in the air and it does make us all feel a bit jolly..........Your tree is fab! and the fire.
Cx

Claire said...

Your picnic basket is fab, very retro!! How great you have a book club, do you each take it in turns to choose a book? Lovely pics to look at!!......Claire xx

mollycupcakes said...

Your book group sounds like great fun to be in. Wish I lived closer hun.
Easter looked yummy and the chickens and eggs very pretty.

Sorry I missed you this weekend, little Daisy wasn't at her best while at Grandmas and kept being sick. Not the best trip we've had. Catch you next time and if your every down here drop in for coffee and cake. The girls would enjoy playing Kitty and Jack lol

Hugs
Catherine x
Ps any bird hatched?

Betty said...

What a fun picnic set your found! I love the garden pictures. Is the second plant a fuschia?

Ally Jay said...

What a lovley picnic basket. it made me think of the Famous Five for some reason. Good old Ebay. What books have you read and enjoyed that you wouldn't normally have read?